10.D - Install and Configure Printers Flashcards
Describe the Windows print process
Display and print functions for compatible applications are handled by the WindowsPresentation Foundation (WPF).
A WPF print job is formatted and spooled as an XMLPrint Specification (XPS) file in the printer’s spool folder (%SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Printers).
This spool file is then processed by the printer’s device driver. It may either be output directly to an XPS-compatible print device or rendered using a different PageDescription Language (PDL), such as HP Printer Control Language or Adobe®PostScript®, and converted to a raster, or dot-by-bot description of where the printer should place ink.
The print monitor transmits the print job to the printer and provides status information.
When is the Graphic display Interface (GDI) print process used and what two formats does it utilized
It is used when Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is not supported
EMF (Enhanced Metafile)—a small, efficient, printer-independent file type. As the file is smaller, it is written to disk more quickly, therefore freeing up resources. The printer must support EMF for this to work.
RAW—this file type differs depending on your printer. RAW files must be formatted for the printer at the spooling stage, therefore it will take longer to spool the file and the file will be larger. The RAW spool format is a useful troubleshooting tool.
What are some features of Page Descriptio Languages (PDL)
Scalable fonts - A vector font consists of a description of how each character should be drawn. This description can be scaled up or down. vs Bitmap font that can not be scaled
Color printing - The color model used by display systems is different to that used by printers (additive versus subtractive).
An additive model combines differently colored transmitted light (Red, Green, and Blue, for instance) to form different shades.
A subtractive model works using the reflective properties of inks: Cyan,Magenta, and Yellow plus Black ink for “true” blacks.
Vector Graphics - as with fonts, scalable images are built from vectors, which describe how a line should be drawn, rather than providing a pixel-by-pixel description, as is the case with bitmap graphics.
What are some print options for virtual printers?
Print to file—this creates a file that can subsequently be sent to the print device. It basically means saving a copy of the file that would normally be spooled by the printer. This may be used in conjunction with the PostScript print language. Note that the output files are typically very large.
Print to PDF—the Portable Document Format (PDF) was created by Adobe and later published as an open standard as a device-independent format for viewing and printing documents. Print (or export) to PDF functionality is available in many software applications.
Print to XPS—as noted earlier, the XML Print Specification is the print language supported by Windows. An XPS format file should be printable on modern Windows-compatible printers.
Print to image—some applications support directing the output to a bitmap image file format, such as PNG or JPEG. Vector text and art will be converted to a fixed resolution format.
List types of printer connections
USB - Windows with plug n’ play will automatically install the drivers needed. Otherwise the drivers will be need to be install from the manufactures website
Ethernet - Printers can be connected to ethernet switch where clients on the network can connect directly to it via IP address or to have the printer be managed by a print server
Serial Port - does not support the bandwidth of modern printers however certain Point-of-Sale (PoS) barcode printers and older impact printers are interfaced by serial ports
Wireless - Bluetooth and wifi enabled printing
Explain infrastructure mode vs ad-hoc
infrastructure mode, the printer would be configured to connect to an access point and client connections would also be mediated by the access point.
ad-hoc mode, client devices would connect directly to the printer.
Describe print drivers
Operating system printer drivers must be installed for a printer to function correctly. If the device is not detected automatically, the printer port can be selected, and drivers can be installed using the Devices and Printers applet or the Windows Settings app.
What are two main dialog boxes for a local printer?
Printer properties
Printer preferences
What can be done in Printer Properties?
updating the driver
printing to a different port
sharing and permissions
setting basic device options (such as whether a duplex unit is installed)
configuring default paper types for different feed trays.
What can be done in Printer Preferences?
set default print job options, such as the type and orientation of paper or whether to print in color or black and white.
Describe the Paper/Quality tab
The Paper/Quality tab allows you to choose the type of paper stock (size and type) to use and whether to use an economy or draft mode to preserve ink/toner.
Describe the Finishing tab
The Finishing tab lets you select output options such as whether to print on both sides of the paper (duplex), print multiple images per sheet, and/or print in portrait or landscape orientation.
Describe collated vs uncollated prints
A collated print job is one where all pages of the first copy are printed, followed by all pages of the second copy, and so on. If the uncollated option is selected, then all copies of page 1 are printed first, followed by all copies of page 2, and so on.
Describe Type 2, Type 3, Type 4 drivers
Type 2 - drivers, each specific Windows version requires its own driver.
Type 3 - drivers, you need only add x86 (32-bit Windows) and/or x64 (64-bitWindows) support.
Type 4 - drivers. These are designed to move towards a print class driver framework, where a single driver will work with multiple devices.
What are two main options for sharing a printer on the network?
]Windows printer sharing - browse through the network resources using the Network object in File Explorer. Open the server computer hosting the printer, then right-click the required printer and select connect.
Hardware print server sharing - Some printers come with integrated or embedded print server hardware and firmware, allowing client computers to connect to them over the network without having to go via a server computer.
